Lana Oleen is speaker for spring commencement

May 4, 2012

Emporia State University’s 145th commencement is Saturday, May 12. It has been moved indoors because of the potential for inclement weather.

Approximately 600 students are candidates for undergraduate degrees which they will receive either this month or at the conclusion of summer classes in August. They will receive their diplomas at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at White Auditorium, 111 E. Sixth Ave., Emporia.

Graduate degrees will be awarded to nearly 300 students at 9:30 a.m. Saturday in Albert Taylor Hall inside Plumb Hall on the Emporia State campus.

Commencement speakers will include Robba Moran of Hays, a member of the Kansas Board of Regents, and Jason Fanning of Olathe, president of the Emporia State University Alumni Association board. The commencement address will be delivered by Lana (Scrimsher) Oleen of Manhattan, chair of the Emporia State University Foundation Board of Trustees.

Oleen served in the Kansas Senate from 1989 to 2005 and was the Kansas Senate Majority Leader. She has served on the ESU Foundation board since 2006. She founded Lana Oleen Consulting, LLC, and provides consulting services for higher education organizations and nonprofit foundations.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in education in 1972 and a master’s degree in 1977, both from Emporia State. She was named a Kansas Master Teacher in 1985 and was also a William Black Endowed Chair recipient. In 2006, she received the ESU Service Citation Award. She is also an ESU Alumni Association lifetime member and former alumni board member.

For those unable to make the trip to Emporia, ESU will offer live, streaming video of the undergraduate commencement exercises in White Auditorium. Links to the video coverage will be posted on the university’s online commencement page, www.emporia.edu/commencement/.

Seating is limited and will be on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Additional information, including Emporia lodging accommodations and maps, is available online.

Emporia State University is a dynamic and progressive student-centered learning community that fosters student success through engagement in academic excellence, community and global involvement, and the pursuit of personal and professional fulfillment.